A medication that relieves irritable bowel syndrome
A recent British study found that an antidepressant medication could change the lives of millions of people with irritable bowel syndrome.
Researchers say that taking low doses of the antidepressant drug amitriptyline significantly improves irritable bowel syndrome symptoms.
In the first trial of its kind, the researchers wanted to test whether low doses of an antidepressant could benefit patients with irritable bowel syndrome.
Some 463 patients were recruited from 55 GP practices in West Yorkshire, Wessex and the west of England, with half given amitriptyline and the other half given a placebo.
The results of the trial showed that people who took the drug “amitriptyline” saw an overall improvement in irritable bowel syndrome symptoms after 6 months, by twice as much as people who took placebo.
The researchers also monitored the participants' degrees of anxiety or depression, and found that these elements did not change in them, indicating that the beneficial effects of the drug were via the gastrointestinal tract.
Irritable bowel syndrome affects about one in 20 people worldwide, causing pain, bloating, diarrhea and constipation. This long-term condition, which has no known cure, can have a significant impact on quality of life and the ability of sufferers to work and socialize.
Amitriptyline belongs to a group of medications called tricyclics, which were originally used in high doses to treat depression. This new study, published in The Lancet, is the first to study its use to treat irritable bowel syndrome, according to the British Daily Mail.